White Sox Have a Tendency to Dominate the Mariners, Making The Series Less Fun to Watch

So an overpowering lefty pitched a complete game against the Mariners today. It’s not the first or last time that will happen this season, and it isn’t even the first time Chris Sale has dominated the Mariners.

The last time Sale faced the Mariners he struck out 11 Mariners in 6.1 innings. It certainly wasn’t as good an outing today, but with 19 missed bats compared to the 13 he missed today, it was certainly more dominant. If you don’t remember why you don’t remember that, it’s because Philip Humber ruined everyone’s day to close out that series. I lost like two weeks in April over that debacle.

So Sale was good today, and the only real bright spot was an enormous Miguel Olivo homerun. I’m sure it was wind-aided, but nobody hits 450 foot homeruns into the wind. If there is any remaining Olivo supporters this and an image of Olivo throwing a runner out are exhibit A and B for why he should be a catcher. Olivo also had an extended at bat to end the game where he ultimately struck out, but he battled. Oh the value of a battle. Olivo made his two other outs—one of them a strikeout—on four pitches.

Dustin Ackley struck out three times. Justin Smoak struck out once. Ichiro was back in the three hole. Chone Figgins struck out three times. It feels like all the progress the team has made in terms of process has regressed back to zero in a single day.

Kevin Millwood had his roughest outing in a while. It is worth noting that the winds probably led to at least a couple of the home runs given up and hit by the Mariners this weekend. I don’t want to talk a ton about Kevin Millwood though because he’s Kevin Millwood. He’s been Kevin Millwood for over a decade. At least as far as baseball goes. He’s really been Kevin Millwood since he was born.

Stephen Pryor now has four strikeouts in 2.1 innings and look the part of a late inning reliever. He gave up a homerun to Dayan Viciedo in his first outing. A lot of people are giving up homeruns to Viciedo lately. That doesn’t mean that Pryor won’t have problems with the homerun. The problem will be worse if he doesn’t get his walks under control. He hasn’t walked a batter in the MLB yet.

Lucas Luetge still hasn’t given up a run this year and Shawn Kelley, who also pitched today has been pretty good also. Brandon League has been a pretty awful reliever this year, and Steve Delabar has struggled, but the rest of the Mariners bullpen has been alright.

The Mariners lost today, and they lost another series to the White Sox. They get the recently hot Anaheim Angels of Anaheim tomorrow in Anaheim. Fuck Los Angeles.